KPD Public Information Officer Darrell DeBusk said in a press release that KPD investigators arrested Cassidy after stopping his vehicle following an attempted robbery at the Smart Style Salon in Knoxville.

Cassidy's vehicle matched the description police received from witnesses who saw a vehicle leaving the Clinton Highway Walmart after the attempted robbery of the salon, which is inside the Walmart store. DeBusk also reported that Cassidy matched the description of the suspect at the salon and the earlier hotel robberies.

The hotel robbery suspect brandished a knife in all of the cases.

Evidence from the robberies, including a knife, was discovered inside Cassidy's vehicle, according to DeBusk. After Cassidy was questioned, he was charged with four counts of aggravated robbery and three counts of attempted aggravated robbery.

On Nov. 5 and again on Nov. 11, a man armed with a knife robbed the Staybridge Inn & Suites on South Illinois Avenue. The lone robber demanded money both times and was dressed in basically the same type of clothing on both occasions. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head and wearing a bandana over his face.

The robber in the Knoxville hotel cases was dressed similarly, reports said.

DeBusk said the Knox County Sheriff's Department has also interviewed Cassidy in connection with similar incidents that have occurred in the county's jurisdiction.

Cassidy has a criminal history and is currently on parole, convicted of aggravated robbery in 2001 in Knox County. His 8-year prison sentence was set to end in January 2011. He is being held in the Knox County jail on a $300,000 bond stemming from the KPD charges.

Beverly Majors can be contacted at (865) 220-5514.

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